LOCAL AZ

HUZZAH! We’re so grateful to the AZ Renaissance Festival for hosting us at their event this past weekend. It was a packed day of fun, food, and fairytale dreams come true. My cheeks are still hurting from all the smiling and laughing we did.

This medieval event takes place every Saturday and Sunday through April 1 in a 30 acre village outside of Phoenix filled with performers, artisans, interactive games, people-powered rides and DELICIOUS food. I can’t stress enough the delicious food. Really.

Being my first festival with kids in tow, I wanted to share a few ideas on how to make the most of your visit to this 16th century celebration in the desert.

Renaissance Festival Tips

ADMISSION

This is the absolute BEST time to visit the Renaissance Festival because for the remainder of the event kids are FREE with the purchase of an adult ticket. Purchase your adult tickets at Fry’s Food and Drug Stores to get $2 off each adult admission, then head to Cobblestone Auto Spa, Wendy’s or Hall of Frames to get coupons for your FREE kids ticket.

If you are a senior or military you can save $3 on an adult ticket my purchasing your tickets at the gate and showing your ID.

COSTUMES

While I didn’t dress up myself, my daughter did wear a costume which made it that much more fun! Our costume of choice was a woodland fairy. We started with a dress we already had in the closet and accessorized with a few items from the Dollar Tree and Target including a green fairy skirt ($1), Fairy Wings ($1), Butterflies for her hair ($1) and a strand of flowers that were in the Easter aisle at Target.

Dressing up attracts more banter from the festival performers and Royals you’ll run into as you are exploring the grounds.

WHAT TO BRING

Sunscreen – Despite the weather being perfectly cool, I still managed to get a sunburn right through my black hoodie. Bring sunscreen and reapply. You are in the middle of the desert after all.

Water – They do have vendors with water, food and everything you need to get though the day, but, if you would rather spend your money on handcrafted nick knacks rather than bottles of water, bring your own.

Cash – Lot’s of cash. The performers want tips. Your child will be distracted by every sword and fairy necklace you encounter. Every ride costs $2 – $7 and like I said… FOOD! You won’t be able to resist the chocolate dipped strawberries, caramel apples, frozen bananas, turkey legs and all the other items we devoured along the way.

Comfortable shoes – If you wear flip flops you might be sorry. There is no avoiding the dirt and there is a LOT of walking to be done.

Festival vendors do not accept cards and while they do have ATM machines, there’s a fee to use them

MUST DO’S

You have to find time to watch a joust. There are three throughout the day. Grab a turkey leg and head all the way back to the Tournament Arena. There are no bad seats, just bad knights. HA! Jousts are at noon, 2:30 and 5:00.

The girls LOVED the faeries and the living mermaid! (From a mom’s perspective, the pirate next to the mermaid tank isn’t so bad himself!) These are great photo ops and the faerie has a freebie for kids. A magic marble that she pulls out of the bubbles she’s blowing! You’ll also come across faeries throughout the event that will sprinkle you with faerie dust. So magical.

Eat a turkey leg! So, maybe 4 turkey legs was a bit much for two adults and two kids. We probably ate the equivalent of two turkey legs, but it’s just so fun to walk around with a gigantic leg you can feast on, or club someone with if they try to pick your pockets. We also shared a caramel apple, because they are literally bigger than your face.

Pet a unicorn. What more can I say than that? Magical!

Take in a few shows. Our favorites all included the juggling of fire and Rylie even got to participate in an act where she held a spinning plate on a stick while holding a “stick of dynamite” in her other hand with a ball spinning on top. Those dollar fairy wings were good for something!

We arrived at the festival at 10 a.m. and left at 4:30 and still missed SO MUCH! It was a blast though. I wish I could buy all the things, ride all the rides and of course eat all the food. If you can, I highly recommend coming up with a family plan ahead of time so everyone gets to see and do what they want.

At the end of the day we managed to have no whiney kids and a whole lot of magic and dust in our hair.

The Renaissance Festival has some really fun themed weekends coming up, including their favorite Time Traveler weekend which happens March 3rd and 4th. They’ll be bringing in the T.A.R.D.I.S from Dr. Who, and holding a Time Traveler contest at the Royal Pavilion where teams of Dr. Who(s), Doc & Marty, Bill & Ted, and a variety of other creative costumed characters will try their hand at winning first prize!

Happy 2018! I’m a little late to the game, but the last 3-4 weeks were a doozy for me. From back problems to the flu I’ve spent little time outside enjoying the best season to live in Arizona and more time on the couch feeling sorry for myself. But then I saw that Arizona State Parks were FREE to AZ residents for Martin Luther King weekend, so I hopped to my feet, slipped on my new New Balance, and dragged my family to a place I’ve wanted to go for a long time now. Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, AZ.

We couldn’t have picked a better weekend to visit Arizona’s oldest botanical garden. The weather was perfect, in the low 70’s, and there were so many tall shady trees and a light breeze. It was a really nice break from Phoenix desert life where there’s literally not an ounce of shade, and only an hour and 20 minutes away. My only regret; forgetting the backpack of snacks in the car.

What can I say about this greenhouse? So dreamy. Can I get one of these in my yard? Natural light, old stone and greenery. I’m in love.

Something I’ve learned along the way is that if you tell a kid they are going on an adventure, no matter how boring it is, they’ll find fun in it. You could be going to the post office to mail a letter to a great and foreign land, or going on a hike to search for the first signs of spring. We always like to search for color on our hikes, and when the Arizona winter turns to spring the colors are beautiful and plenty!

We also like to search for clean bathrooms with running water. I’m happy to report that Boyce Thompson has both.

“I’ll adventure with you today mom, but tomorrow no adventures. I’m booked.” Birthday parties take priority over family adventures, apparently. She was just using this time to “get some exercise and a good night’s sleep.”

My mini. I love that she shares my love of photography, but, could I get my phone back please? I’d share her walking tour of the place but you’d get dizzy. Literally, she spun the camera in circles to make the video dizzying.

We hiked the High Trail which wasn’t a steep incline and was a perfect first hike for my new and improved back. Rylie is a pretty experienced hiker and I’d like to say this is an easy hike for a six year old, but you definitely need to keep an eye on your kiddos. The trail itself isn’t steep but it’s narrow with occasional areas that have a drop on the side. There were also a few rocky patches that she needed a little help navigating. Once she got a good side step down she was good to go.

I’m fascinated with javelinas, but this guy started huffing and puffing at us so we were all, peace out. Plus do you see his two larger family members in the back? No thanks friends, moving on.

We took in our last rays of sun around 4:00 and then headed back to the valley with a quick dinner stop at Joe’s Farm Grill and filled our bellies with their tasty garlic fried green beans.

I can’t wait to visit Boyce Thompson again when the flowers are in bloom, hummingbirds are out and I have more snacks. Because it’s hard to have fun with a loud kid and no snacks.

After our next visit I’ll share pictures of the 1915 house we like to call the Blair Witch House, the cowboy camp we found and the children’s garden. There’s JUST. SO. MUCH. Honestly, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for hanging in!

Have you heard the news? It’s hot in Phoenix. Like, airplanes can’t fly in the sky hot. Like, plastic garbage can melting, fry an egg on the sidewalk hot.

But even with extreme heat warnings, girls from all over Phoenix are still coming out to 91 West, an indoor skatepark, for Skate Rising’s service project and FREE skateboard clinic on the third Saturday of each month!

In the past two months Skate Rising Phoenix has donated 84 lbs. of food to St. Mary’s Food Bank AND 123 hygiene kits and thank you cards to homeless veterans.

Skate Rising is Exposure Skate’s community program for girls between the ages of 4 and 18 years old which teaches compassion through service and empowerment through skateboarding. Always a FREE event, Skate Rising takes place the second Saturday of each month in Encinitas, California, and the third Saturday of each month in Peoria, AZ.

These girls may be small, but they are making a BIG difference in their community, learning valuable lessons, and they’re having fun doing it with friends.

Shortly after a news segment aired on the needs of St. Mary’s Food Bank, Skate Rising announced that their May event would support them with a food drive. Thirty girls came out to skateboard with food donations in hand, making it Phoenix’s biggest event yet!

After the event a few girls came together to make the delivery to the food bank. Not only was it a great experience seeing where all the food is stored, the kids had a blast standing on the giant scale they weight the donations on, taking photos popping out of boxes, and they even let us take a quick skate run down their loading dock!

As we rolled into June the temperatures soared to nearly 122 degrees. IT WAS HOT! The hottest it’s been since I moved to Phoenix. People all over the valley were dragging their feet, the air was heavy and getting in your car seemed like the worst possible idea.

Still, supportive parents and passionate kids came out to skate, create thank you cards for the veterans and donate personal care products for the US Veterans Initiative.

It was a small but fun event that ended in a game of limbo! There was food from Holi Kid’s Meals, raffles, and of course a whole lot of skating.

With a whole lot of help from the community and from Backpacks 4 Kidz, Skate Rising provided 123 hygiene kits for homeless and transitioning veterans in Phoenix.

A few days later, two car-loads of hygiene kits and two very eager girls paid a visit to the veterans and took a tour of their facility which was once a hotel but now provides free and affordable housing to homeless veterans. Here they can also find financial advice, job placement services, mental health counseling, and preparation for independent living.